Throughtful Reader

(By Walter Mosley 288 page)

Legendary author Walter Mosley brings to us a new character and new mysteries. Mosley who authored several famous books like “Devil in a Blue Dress (which was made into a movie starring Denzel Washington), and the Emily Rawlins book series.

In this story we are introduced to former NYPD detective Joe King Oliver. Oliver was once a highly decorated detective until, he was called in to arrest a car thief. He would be framed for an assault, and sentenced to the infamous Rikers Island Prision.

Nearly a decade later, King is released and is attempting to rebuild his life as a private investigator. With the assistance of his daughter Aja-Denise as his secretary, King works his way back to normalcy.

One day King receives a card in the mail from a woman who admits that she was paid by someone in the NYPD to frame him for a crime he didn’t commit those many years ago. King realizes that this maybe his only chance to clear his name and takes his own case. At the same time that this is going on. King is investigating a case about a black radical journalist named Leonard Compton. He was accused of killing two on-duty police officers who been abusing their badges to help traffic drugs and women into the poorest neighborhoods.

King’s hands are tied and two lives will be in the balance. Compton’s, and his own.

The story is short but keeps interested to the very end. We follow King maneuvering around the dark sides of NY while trying to figure out why Compton was framed and handling the day-to-day life as a father trying to rebuild his relationship with his young daughter.

Moseley keeps the story simple, and to the point. There isn’t much deviation. The transitions between the cases and scenes are smooth. The reader will not be bored reading this book. In fact, they will blow through it real fast and enjoy its sequel, “Every Man a King”, which I will review later.